Stary Oskol (, ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Belgorod. , the population is 1,540,486. History During the Princely ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, located south of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Population: It is called ''Stary Oskol'' () to distinguish it from Novy Oskol () located south. Both are on the

Oskol River The Oskil or Oskol (; ) is a south-flowing river in Russia and Ukraine. It arises roughly between Kursk and Voronezh and flows south to join the Donets, Siverskyi Donets which flows southeast to join the Don (river), Don. It is long, with a dra ...

History

Oskol was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle of 1185 as a gathering point for the troops of princes Igor and Svyatoslav in their campaign against the Polovtsians. Then Oskol as a city was mentioned in the list of cities of Svidrigailo in 1432. Then there are mentions of this city in 1497, 1506. There is information that in the 1430s the city was renamed Yagoldai-sarai in honor of the Tatar murza Yagoldai. The city is the capital of the Tatar principality. At the beginning of the 16th century the city was destroyed during a raid by the Crimean Tatars and was rebuilt on the site of the destroyed Yagoldai settlement by the Russian government of Tsar Feodor Ioannovich in 1593 under the ancient name Oskol. It was near the Muravsky Trail used by Crimeans and Nogais to raid Muscovy. In 1571 a fort was built nearby. It was abandoned after 15 years, but the area was still patrolled. In 1593Charter of Starooskolsky Urban Okrug Oskol was refounded as a fortress. In 1617 it was burned by the Poles. The surrounding area was frequently raided by the Tatars. In 1655 it was renamed Stary Oskol to distinguish it from the new fort at Novy Oskol. Later it was affected by the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

in 1919, as well as by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when it was captured by Hungarian troops. After World War II, industry developed in the city and its population started to grow.

Etymology

The origin of the name Oskol remains unclear. According to historian Anatoly Pavlovich Nikulov, ''Oskol'' is of Turkic origin, since the lands of modern Stary Oskol in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

were part of the

Khazar The Khazars ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a nomadic Turkic people who, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, an ...

Kaganate. Another hypothesis likewise holds that ''Oskol'' is of Turkic origin and can be divided into two components: ''Os'' "Ros, Rus,

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

" and ''kol'' "pond, lake, river." In Turkic languages, the sound of "r" is replaced by a softening of the next sound, so ''Ros'' would have been pronounced as ''Os''. Another source assumes that ''oskol'' is of Slavic origin and means "splitting, crushing," a reference to the grinding of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

prior to

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

. The ancient city of Oskol was located in close proximity to a large iron deposi

Administrative and municipal status

Within the subdivisions of Russia#Administrative divisions, framework of administrative divisions, Stary Oskol serves as the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

of Starooskolsky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the town of oblast significance of Stary Oskol—an administrative unit with a status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

.Law #248 As a municipal division, the territories of the city of oblast significance of Stary Oskol and of Starooskolsky District are incorporated as Starooskolsky Urban Okrug.Law #159

Politics

On 17 March 1996, elections of deputies of the territorial Council of the city of Stary Oskol and Stary Oskol district took place, as a result of which 21 deputies were elected. On 20 March 1996, the results of the elections for the head of local government were officially announced: * Ivan Gusarov - 35% * I. N. Zhikharev - 22.8% * Nikolai Shevchenko - 39.4% The number of votes cast against all candidates was 2.8%. Thus, Nikolai Shevchenko became the head of local government of the city. On 22 March 1996, the first operational meeting took place with the participation of the elected mayor of Stary Oskol. On 3 April 1996, the opening of the first session of the territorial Council of Deputies of the city of Stary Oskol and Stary Oskol district took place in a solemn atmosphere. On 4 December 2011, elections to the 6th State Duma were held in the city, in which

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

won with a result of 35.4%.

Economy

Stary Oskol is an important center of

mining, situated at the border of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, one of the largest deposits of iron ore worldwide. Over eight million tons of iron ore are mined here per year. For this reason there is also a branch of the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys in the city.

Education

One of the oldest kids music schools in the city is located in the city center, on Lenina Street.

Notable people

* Vasili Eroshenko, writer, translator, esperantist, linguist, poet and teacher. * Alexander Emelianenko, mixed martial artist * Fedor Emelianenko, mixed martial artist * Denis Lebedev, boxer

Twin towns – sister cities

Stary Oskol is twinned with: *

Salzgitter Salzgitter (; Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Soltgitter'') is an independent city#Germany, independent city in southeast Lower Saxony, Germany, located between Hildesheim and Braunschweig. Together with Wolfsburg and Braunschweig, Salzgitte ...

, Germany (1987) * Asenovgrad, Bulgaria (1989) * Mänttä-Vilppula, Finland (1989)

References

Notes

Sources

* * * {{Authority control Starooskolsky Uyezd Populated places established in 1593 Cities and towns in Belgorod Oblast